Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.8421.

IONS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $74.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.93. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.40.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total value of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,273.30. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 10,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.21, for a total value of $744,692.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,051,538.60. This trade represents a 10.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,018,612 shares of company stock worth $79,094,446 over the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,158,000 after buying an additional 82,560 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,987,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,370,000 after buying an additional 258,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.